Computer Science > Human-Computer Interaction

Title:
Typical Phone Use Habits: Intense Use Does Not Predict Negative Well-Being

Abstract: Not all smartphone owners use their device in the same way. In this work, we
uncover broad, latent patterns of mobile phone use behavior. We conducted a
study where, via a dedicated logging app, we collected daily mobile phone
activity data from a sample of 340 participants for a period of four weeks.
Through an unsupervised learning approach and a methodologically rigorous
analysis, we reveal five generic phone use profiles which describe at least 10%
of the participants each: limited use, business use, power use, and
personality- & externally induced problematic use. We provide evidence that
intense mobile phone use alone does not predict negative well-being. Instead,
our approach automatically revealed two groups with tendencies for lower
well-being, which are characterized by nightly phone use sessions.